


what the storm gave me

by smile_for_me



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beau is an idiot, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Gay, Gen, It's in the future, Kinda?, Kissing, Love, SO, but a lovable idiot, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 16:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16580384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smile_for_me/pseuds/smile_for_me
Summary: “I heard you wished to speak with me,” he replies, and his voice comes from everywhere around them, from the wind, the thunder, the storm itself. Beau feels it vibrating in her chest and nods quickly. This is happening, apparently. No going back.Though, as she stands in front of the literal god, the anger that had been simmering in her chest that morning Yasha left seems to disappear. She has the same understanding as everyone else about Yasha having to leave. She hadn’t fully been okay with it until one night a few months ago that resulted in shed tears and honest words that had needed to be said. She knows Yasha has to go, trusts her to come back in spite of whatever happens to her. But she doesn’t have the same faith as Yasha does in the god standing before her.Instead of anger and the “talking to” she mentioned all those days ago, what leaves her lips is: “Do you really keep her safe?”





	what the storm gave me

**Author's Note:**

> this is really self-indulgent, basically one of those things that you write because it's what you want to read. it's also my first ever cr piece. maybe not the most accurate thing, but i hope you like it anyway.
> 
> edit 2/3/19: just fixed a few typos that were bothering me

“You think the StormLord would listen to me?”

 

Yasha freezes where she is in the corner of their room. She didn’t think Beau was awake. Despite the lack of response, she continues.

 

“Because if I ever meet him, I’m gonna give him a talking to.”

  
  
That brings a fond smile to Yasha’s face and she turns away from her pack to look at the woman. Beau is still lying in bed, the same position Yasha left her in a few minutes prior. Her hair is spread out on the pillow around her head, her blue eyes tracking Yasha’s movements in the still-dark room.

 

“Is that so?” Yasha asks, a tone of amusement in her voice.

 

“Mhm,” Beau hums in response, stretching for a moment before settling back. “About taking you away so much.”

 

Yasha’s smile turns a bit sad as she closes her pack. “That’s very brave of you,” she says quietly, and Beau snorts.

 

“Some people would say stupid.”

 

“Oh, definitely,” Yasha agrees, sitting down on the edge of the bed to pull on her boots. “But still brave.”

 

Beau doesn’t respond except for a faint hum, nudging Yasha lightly as she readjusts her feet. Yasha finishes lacing up her boots in silence, pulling her furs and pack around her shoulders before resting her greatsword on her back. Beau watches her, Yasha turns to see a disappointed but resigned look on the monk’s sleepy face.

 

“I’ll try to be back soon,” she promises, moving back toward Beau as a flash of lightning illuminates the small room.

 

“Okay,” Beau murmurs back, closing her eyes as Yasha ducks down and presses a kiss to her forehead. She grabs the front of Yasha’s furs before she can stand back up, stealing an _actual_ kiss and adding, “Be safe,” before letting go.

 

Yasha smiles and leaves one more kiss on her lips as the rain outside hits the window of their room with more urgency. “I will,” she replies before slipping out of the room and into the early-morning storm.

 

***

 

Beau has mostly forgotten about that conversation a couple weeks later. Yasha isn’t back yet, but she’s been replying to Jester’s messages, promising she’s okay, it'a just taking a bit longer than she’d hoped. Now that she knows what the messages are and actually replies, it’s somewhat easier for her to be away. Sure, Beau still worries constantly about what she’s doing, about if she’s okay. But now she gets confirmation from Jester every night that she’s alive.

 

They’re on the road for the night, in between towns and nearing the mountain where they’re pretty sure the thing they need to retrieve for the Gentleman is. The weather’s been on the verge of stormy all day which makes Beau hopeful that Yasha will be back soon. Jester reports that Yasha says she should be to them in the next few days, and Beau can’t get the grin off her face for the rest of the night.

 

The night sky is rumbling as they all pile into Caleb’s bubble, tossing their things inside in preparation for the inevitable rain. Beau is the last outside, and she hears Nott’s voice in her head, telling her to come inside.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbles, kicking a bit more dirt over the remnants of their campfire before turning to join them.

 

The sky opens up, icy rain drenching her immediately as she curses under her breath, pushing against the wind whipping around her toward the bubble. As she moves, lightning flashes and something catches her attention from the corner of her eye—a figure, too far away to make anything out, to her left. She turns immediately, spinning and grabbing her staff from her back in one fluid motion. Lightning flashes again and the figure is closer, much closer than it should have been able to get in that amount of time.

 

The wind is tossing her hair and clothes around her, the raindrops freezing where they hit her skin and soak her clothes, but she barely notices it with the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Another lightning flash and now the figure is close enough to make out. It’s a man—or maybe not, considering his size—with wild grey hair, wearing dark clothes and a hooded cloak that he pulls back to show a grizzled face. Beau can tell now that he’s very large, the next flash of lightning bringing him a few dozen yards away, he towers over her and she thinks she realizes what’s going on. She watches as he holds a hand out, motioning for her to come closer, and even as she tells herself how stupid this is, she moves toward him.

 

With her first step forward, she’s in front of him and even though she can see the trees shaking with the storm around them, it doesn’t reach them. She looks up and finds him looking down at her, waiting.

 

After a second, she chuckles nervously, planting her feet beneath her shoulders and her staff on the ground next to her.

 

“You, uh. Heard what I said, then?” she asks.

 

If not for the expression on his face, she would have mistaken the rumbling laughter coming from every angle as some manifestation of the horrible storm. But, the corners of his mouth tip upwards, laugh lines forming around his eyes.

 

“I heard you wished to speak with me,” he replies, and his voice comes from everywhere around them, from the wind, the thunder, the storm itself. Beau feels it vibrating in her chest and nods quickly. This is happening, apparently. No going back.

 

Though, as she stands in front of the literal god, the anger that had been simmering in her chest that morning Yasha left seems to disappear. She has the same understanding as everyone else about Yasha having to leave. She hadn’t fully been okay with it until one night a few months ago that resulted in shed tears and honest words that had needed to be said. She knows Yasha has to go, trusts her to come back in spite of whatever happens to her. But she doesn’t have the same faith as Yasha does in the god standing before her.

 

Instead of anger and the “talking to” she mentioned all those days ago, what leaves her lips is: “Do you really keep her safe?”

 

He seems surprised to receive that question, his dark grey eyes widening almost imperceptibly. He’s quiet for a minute, thinking, eyes staring into Beau’s and seeming to look inside of her.

 

“I show her which paths to follow,” he finally says, the noise vibrating through the air around her. “And I watch over her as she follows them.”

 

The answer is cagey and unsatisfactory, and Beau makes a discontented noise in the back of her throat. “Do you or do you not keep her safe?” she demands, planting her staff firmly in the mud near her feet. “Because she believes that you do.” Beau knows she’s being disrespectful, definitely not acting in the correct manner of being in front of a _god_. But this is Yasha they’re talking about. _Her_ Yasha. She’s not gonna not defend—not  _protect—_ her, no matter who she’s in front of.

 

The god gives Beau a long, appraising look. She can see the storm out of the corner of her eye picking up in intensity and hopes she didn’t just make a huge mistake. Hopefully, her friends haven’t come out of the bubble to look for her yet.

 

She must pass some sort of test because his stance changes and nods once. “I do.”

 

Beau nods back. “Good. Because she’s got a bunch of people ready to take over if you fail her.” She pauses trying to calm the anger burning in her chest on Yasha’s behalf. She really shouldn’t be getting antagonistic with this guy.

 

“I am sorry, Beauregard,” he says, jerking her attention up to him. He continues despite the confusion on her face. “For taking her away so much. She cares deeply for you.”

 

Beau’s cheeks go red, still unused to being told that even after months of knowing. And to hear it from Yasha’s god is different than from her or one of their friends. “Oh,” she says, unable to come up with a more intelligible answer. He continues before she has a chance to say anything else.

 

“We tend to put a lot of pressure on our champions,” he muses. “Maybe too much.” He pauses, opening his cloak and rummaging around the underside of it. She frowns in confusion as she watches him pull out a chain with a small charm on it. He hesitates for a moment, watching the charm pulse with some sort of light that seems to be coming from within it, but then he holds his hand out, extending the charm to her.

 

Beau hesitates for just a moment before reaching out and gently taking the chain into her hand, watching the charm curiously. “What is this?” she asks.

 

He smiles, and it softens his features, laugh lines becoming visible around his eyes, the grey to his eyes brightening a little. Nodding toward the charm, his voice is like the wind as he says, “It’s her.”

 

The air leaves Beau’s lungs as if she’d been hit, and she cups her hands around the charm, pulling it closer to herself. She looks up at him with wide eyes, choking out a “what?” She sounds as terrified and awestruck as she feels.

 

“Not all of her, of course,” he amends, obviously realizing the fear she was feeling. “Most of it is with her, obviously. But that is a part of what I have of her.”

 

Beau’s really not entirely sure how any of that works, if she’s really holding part of Yasha’s _soul_ , or if it’s some manifestation of her faith in the StormLord or _what_ it is. But from what she’s understanding, he’s giving her some part of the thing that’s tying Yasha to him and that’s _huge_ , she’s not sure she should be trusted with that.

 

“It will let you know that she is safe. That I am keeping her safe,” he says, and as Beau focuses on it, she realizes that the pulsing reminds her of a heartbeat. “When she’s finished her duty, I will give you the rest.”

 

Beau nods slowly, watching the charm intently now. “Thank you,” she says, looking up at him once more to see that he’s pulling up his hood.

 

He nods once. “Keep her safe.”

 

She nods back and then he’s gone, the rain coming down around her again. The wind whips her cloak around her, her fingers going icy with the rain back on her skin as she stares down at the charm in her hands.

 

Sometime later, she hears her name being called and realizes her skin is numb as she turns, seeing Fjord and Nott running toward her.

 

“What happened?” Fjord asks as he runs up, his warm hands making contact with her arms and pulling her closer to him. He wraps an arm around her shoulders, letting her leech some of his body heat and starting back towards their camp.

 

“Are you okay?” Nott demands, grabbing the edge of her cloak and tugging on it. “Is there something out here?”

 

Beau lets herself be shuffled back toward their camp, glancing down at Nott for a second and processing her question. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she promises, leaning into Fjord’s warmth a little more and looking down at the charm still wrapped up tightly in her fingers. “I just. Needed to talk to someone.”

 

“Out in the rain?” Fjord asks, all but pushing her inside of the bubble once they get to it.

 

“Beau!” Jester cries immediately, rushing toward her and looking for any damage.

 

“I’m _fine_ ,” Beau says instantly, letting Jester fuss over her anyway as Caleb and Caduceus wrap blankets around her shivering form. There’s a brief moment of argument among everyone, but it only takes a few minutes before Beau is dressed in an assortment of dry clothes borrowed from her companions, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and Frumpkin purring in her lap. The long-sleeve shirt Nott bought her a few weeks ago, her cloak, and her pants are off to the edge, laid out to dry. The charm is still held tightly in her right hand, and her friends are looking at her.

 

“You had to talk to someone...?” Fjord prompts and Beau nods a little, brushing some damp hair from her face.

 

“Yeah, uh,” she falters, unsure how much to tell them. After a second, she sighs, looking down at her hands and the charm that was pulsing in her palm. “Look, you guys, I gotta talk to Yasha about this first, I’m sorry. I’m fine, everything’s fine, I just gotta talk to her.”

 

Her friends are quiet, and she doesn’t look up for a moment, expecting a backlash. Instead, she looks up to find her friends with looks of understanding directed toward her.

 

“Okay,” Jester says through the pout on her face. “But you have to tell us then.”  
  
“Yeah, of course, I’ll tell you then,” Beau says, relieved as things go back to normal around her. She falls asleep with Caleb’s back pressed against hers and Jester cuddled up to her chest—“for warmth, Beau” she insisted when Beau gave her a look—not that she really minded. (It was an okay substitute for Yasha’s arms around her.)

 

***

 

It takes another four days for Yasha to find them again. They meet on the road, Caleb tells them she’s up ahead and Beau jumps off the cart, takes off running. She hears laughter at her back but she knows they’re keeping their same pace, letting the two reunite below the dip of the hill ahead of them.

 

Yasha looks tired and a little banged up, but she still catches Beau with a small laugh when she jumps at her.

 

“Hey,” Yasha says, laughter in her voice  

 

“Hi,” Beau answers, running her thumb along a bruise below Yasha’s eye. “Look, before everyone else gets here, I gotta show you something.” Reluctantly, Beau moves away—though she’s still close enough to feel sheltered by Yasha’s towering form. Beau pulls the chain and charm out from her pouch and shows it to the other, knowing Yasha will recognize the symbol as the same one she wears.

 

“What is this?” she asks in a hushed tone, large fingers brushing carefully against the smooth surface.

 

“Well, uh,” Beau says, looking at the charm whose light is brighter than ever. “He told me it was…you.”

 

Yasha freezes and Beau’s stomach drops, resisting the urge to pull the charm back, to protect it because it’s _hers_ , even if she doesn’t deserve it. Beau watches her mismatched eyes and is stunned when they look up to meet hers with pure amazement reflected in them.

 

“He spoke to you?” she asks incredulously, her face not quite readable.

 

Beau nods, a little hesitantly. “Yeah, he did.”

 

Yasha is quiet for a moment, and Beau can’t help holding her breath. But then the brightest smile Beau’s ever seen stretches across Yasha’s face and she’s wrapping her arms around the monk, pulling her in and up. And Beau grabs onto her shoulders as Yasha starts laughing, pure joy radiating from her and Beau can’t help but laugh too, her hands going to Yasha’s cheeks so she can kiss her because that feels right.

 

Yasha puts her down as the others approach, and Beau hides the charm away again. She can tell everyone else about it later, she thinks, trying to glare at Caleb when he makes a comment about them, but she can’t seem to get the dopey grin off her face.

 

***

 

Yasha leads them to an inn she passed on her way to them, and that’s where they stay the night. There’s a bit too much drinking to celebrate Yasha’s return, and Beau is warm against her side the whole night—still warm against her now, snoring softly against Yasha’s chest.

 

Yasha smiles down at her for a long moment before her eyes shift to the charm glowing on the bedside table, next to her holy symbol. She looks out the window after a moment, seeing the clouds obscuring the moon and smiles.

 

“Thank you.”

 

There’s a clap of thunder in response and she tightens her arms around Beau as the woman flinches, closing her eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr! @universaldarkwarrior


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